IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jbemgt/v14y2013i2p252-275.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does leverage affect labour productivity? A comparative study of local and multinational companies of the Baltic countries

Author

Listed:
  • Mari Avarmaa
  • Aaro Hazak
  • Kadri Männasoo

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of leverage on labour productivity of companies operating in the Baltic countries, with a focus on differences between local and multinational companies. We employ a fixed effects regression model on company level data, covering the period from 2001 to 2008. Our results demonstrate that the impact of leverage on labour productivity is non-linear and it differs dramatically between local and multinational companies. In the case of local companies, at low levels of leverage, an increase in external financing tends to bring along an improvement in labour productivity, while at higher levels of leverage an increase in debt financing appears to result in a loss of labour productivity. For multinational companies, the impact of leverage on labour productivity tends to be more linear and leverage appears to have a negative impact on labour productivity. Although debt overhang is believed to be an issue in the Baltic countries in general, local companies with low leverage might be able to increase labour productivity by additional borrowing.

Suggested Citation

  • Mari Avarmaa & Aaro Hazak & Kadri Männasoo, 2013. "Does leverage affect labour productivity? A comparative study of local and multinational companies of the Baltic countries," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(2), pages 252-275, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jbemgt:v:14:y:2013:i:2:p:252-275
    DOI: 10.3846/16111699.2011.651624
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.3846/16111699.2011.651624
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3846/16111699.2011.651624?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Priit Vahter, 2004. "The Effect Of Foreign Direct Investment On Labour Productivity: Evidence From Estonia And Slovenia," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 32, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia).
    2. Martin Bijsterbosch & Marcin Kolasa, 2010. "FDI and productivity convergence in Central and Eastern Europe: an industry-level investigation," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 145(4), pages 689-712, January.
    3. Gatti, Roberta & Love, Inessa, 2006. "Does access to credit improve productivity ? Evidence from Bulgarian firms," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3921, The World Bank.
    4. Priit Vahter & Jaan Masso, 2007. "Home versus Host Country Effects of FDI: Searching for New Evidence of Productivity Spillovers," Applied Economics Quarterly (formerly: Konjunkturpolitik), Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 53(2), pages 165-196.
    5. Chad Syverson, 2011. "What Determines Productivity?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 326-365, June.
    6. Michael Pfaffermayr & Christian Bellak, 2002. "Why Foreign-owned Firms are Different: A Conceptual Framework and Empirical Evidence for Austria," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Rolf Jungnickel (ed.), Foreign-owned Firms, chapter 2, pages 13-57, Palgrave Macmillan.
    7. repec:lic:licosd:20808 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Peter Egger & Christian Keuschnigg, 2015. "Innovation, Trade, and Finance," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(2), pages 121-157, May.
    9. Olga Arratibel & Frigyes Ferdinand Heinz & Reiner Martin & Marcin Przybyla & Lucasz Rawdanowicz & Roberta Serafini & Tina Zumer, 2007. "Determinants of growth in the central and eastern European EU member states - a production function approach," Occasional Paper Series 61, European Central Bank.
    10. Arratibel, Olga & Heinz, Frigyes Ferdinand & Martin, Reiner & Przybyla, Marcin & Rawdanowicz, Lukasz & Serafini, Roberta & Zumer, Tina, 2007. "Determinants of growth in the central and eastern European EU member states - a production function approach," Occasional Paper Series 61, European Central Bank.
    11. Priit Vahter, 2009. "Productivity in Estonian Enterprises: the Role of Innovation and Competition," Chapters, in: David G. Mayes (ed.), Microfoundations of Economic Success, chapter 4, pages 131-167, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Coricelli, Fabrizio & , & Pal, Sarmistha & Roland, Isabelle, 2009. "Excess Leverage and Productivity Growth in Emerging Economies: Is There A Threshold Effect?," CEPR Discussion Papers 7617, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. David Greenaway & Alessandra Guariglia & Zhihong Yu, 2014. "The more the better? Foreign ownership and corporate performance in China," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(7-9), pages 681-702, September.
    14. Ms. Valerie Herzberg, 2010. "Assessing the Risk of Private Sector Debt Overhang in the Baltic Countries," IMF Working Papers 2010/250, International Monetary Fund.
    15. Greenhalgh, Christine & Rogers, Mark, 2006. "The value of innovation: The interaction of competition, R&D and IP," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 562-580, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sudeshna Ghosh & Buhari Doğan & Muhlis Can & Muhammad Ibrahim Shah & Nicholas Apergis, 2023. "Does economic structure matter for income inequality?," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 2507-2527, June.
    2. Vujanović, Nina & Stojčić, Nebojša & Hashi, Iraj, 2021. "FDI spillovers and firm productivity during crisis: Empirical evidence from transition economies," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 45(2).
    3. Li, Guangzhong & Fujiyama, Keishi & Wu, Cen & Zheng, Ying, 2024. "Employment protection, corporate governance, and labor productivity around the World," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    4. Raul Ruubel, 2021. "Time Dimensions of Job Autonomy in Estonian R&D Institutions," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(3), pages 1079-1099, September.
    5. Lindner, Thomas & Klein, Florian & Schmidt, Stefan, 2018. "The effect of internationalization on firm capital structure: A meta-analysis and exploration of institutional contingencies," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 1238-1249.
    6. Cattaruzzo, Sebastiano & Teruel, Mercedes, 2022. "On the heterogeneity of the long-term leverage-growth relationship: A cross-country analysis of manufacturing firms," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 552-565.
    7. Ruubel, Raul, 2018. "Time dimensions of job autonomy in R&D work," SocArXiv n62qd, Center for Open Science.
    8. Padmaja Mundakkad, 2018. "Firms' leverage and labour productivity: a quantile regression approach," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 38(4), pages 2331-2344.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ramona Jimborean & Anna Kelber, 2017. "Foreign Direct Investment Drivers and Growth in Central and Eastern Europe in the Aftermath of the 2007 Global Financial Crisis," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 59(1), pages 23-54, March.
    2. Hanousek, Jan & Kocenda, Evzen & Maurel, Mathilde, 2011. "Direct and indirect effects of FDI in emerging European markets: A survey and meta-analysis," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 301-322, September.
    3. Martin Bijsterbosch & Marcin Kolasa, 2010. "FDI and productivity convergence in Central and Eastern Europe: an industry-level investigation," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 145(4), pages 689-712, January.
    4. Levine, Oliver & Warusawitharana, Missaka, 2021. "Finance and productivity growth: Firm-level evidence," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 91-107.
    5. Herrmann, Sabine & Winkler, Adalbert, 2009. "Real convergence, financial markets, and the current account - Emerging Europe versus emerging Asia," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 100-123, August.
    6. Peter Howard-Jones & Jens Hölscher, 2020. "The Influence Of The Washington Consensus Programme On The Transitional Economies Of Eastern Europe – A Firm-Level Analysis," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 65(226), pages 9-44, July – Se.
    7. Johanna Vogel, 2012. "Agglomeration and Growth: Evidence from the Regions of Central and Eastern Europe," ERSA conference papers ersa12p1089, European Regional Science Association.
    8. Son, Sung Hyun & Kim, Young-Han, 2024. "Does cross-border M&A improve merging firms’ domestic performances?," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    9. González, Fernando & Coppens, François & Winkler, Gerhard, 2007. "The performance of credit rating systems in the assessment of collateral used in Eurosystem monetary policy operations," Occasional Paper Series 65, European Central Bank.
    10. Priit Vahter, 2009. "Productivity in Estonian Enterprises: the Role of Innovation and Competition," Chapters, in: David G. Mayes (ed.), Microfoundations of Economic Success, chapter 4, pages 131-167, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Chizonde, Bright, 2016. "The Macroeconomic Determinants of Economic Growth in Zambia: Do Copper prices matter?," MPRA Paper 87854, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Thimann, Christian & Skala, Martin & Wölfinger, Regine, 2007. "The search for Columbus' egg: finding a new formula to determine quotas at the IMF," Occasional Paper Series 70, European Central Bank.
    13. Falciola, Justine & Jansen, Marion & Rollo, Valentina, 2020. "Defining firm competitiveness: A multidimensional framework," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    14. Sánchez Muñoz, Carlos & Israël, Jean-Marc, 2007. "Towards harmonised balance of payments and international investment position statistics - the experience of the European compilers," Occasional Paper Series 67, European Central Bank.
    15. Michael Berlemann & Sabine Engelmann & Matthias Göthel & Beate Henschel & Carsten Pohl & Joachim Ragnitz & Heinz Schmalholz, 2008. "Die neuen Bundesländer im internationalen Standortvergleich," ifo Dresden Studien, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 43.
    16. Brown, Martin & Lane, Philip R., 2011. "Debt overhang in emerging Europe ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5784, The World Bank.
    17. Young Soo Lee & Han Sung Kim & Seo Hwan Joo, 2020. "Financialization and Innovation Short-termism in OECD Countries," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 52(2), pages 259-286, June.
    18. Chen, Minjia & Matousek, Roman, 2020. "Do productive firms get external finance? Evidence from Chinese listed manufacturing firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    19. Kilic Celik, Sinem & Kose, M. Ayhan & Ohnsorge, Franziska & Ruch, Franz, 2023. "Potential Growth: A Global Database," CEPR Discussion Papers 18061, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Silvia Muzi & Filip Jolevski & Kohei Ueda & Domenico Viganola, 2023. "Productivity and firm exit during the COVID-19 crisis: cross-country evidence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(4), pages 1719-1760, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:jbemgt:v:14:y:2013:i:2:p:252-275. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/TBEM20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.